Slumber Cloud Cumulus Medium Pillow Review

Most people underestimate the importance of their pillow. Afterall, a pillow is a pillow correct? Wrong. Not only should you pay attention to the comfort it lends, but also the health benefits it supports as part of a proper night’s sleep.

An interrupted rest is crucial to our overall health and helps support healthy immune systems, as well as physical and mental healing. Sleeping cool is also part of our natural sleep process that helps regulate and promote proper body function. Your pillow is an important part of this process, and

The Slumber Cloud Cumulus Pillow Specs Table

Loft (pillow height):

Firmness level:

Durability

Cooling effect:

Low

Soft

Machine Washable

Very Good

Breakdown of The Slumber Cloud Cumulus Pillow

The Slumber Cloud Company uses a series of innovative design and material construction to provide an entire line of cooler sleeping bedding products that they claim automatically finds the perfect temperature for you. Everything from mattresses to sheets and duvets can be found for sale through their site, and a pretty hefty following of positive experiences can be found in their product reviews.

Their Cumulus pillow is designed specifically to absorb excess heat from your head as you sleep by using a specific technology to automatically manage your sleep microclimate. This is supposed to ensure that you get the ‘cool’ side of the pillow every time and was originally designed for NASA astronauts.

They also make sure to provide a wide range of both pillow sizes and fill loft to be better able to meet the needs of any sleep preference.

R

Pros

Very well made

Sleeps cool

Excellent customer service

Q

Cons

Overall very soft pillows

Loft may rise around your face

Firm may be too firm

Unpacking

The Slumber Cloud Cumulus Pillow comes sealed within its own plastic carrying bag which is then rolled tightly. Upon unrolling it feels a bit like it was vacuum packed, but instead the pillow is just well compressed. It does require a little bit of time and plumping to get it nice and lofty as well, but the packaging detail is spot on and you feel like you are unwrapping the quality item it appears to upon first glance.

The pillow also comes with a personalized card thanking you for your purchase, a sticker, coupons to share for product discounts, and a night-time herbal tea! While my children fought over the sticker one night I did enjoy the tea before we all headed to bed.

Cooling Benefits

The cooling benefits of any product are wholly dependent upon fabric and material construction choices. No material can actually generate a cooling temperature, but a cooling sensation with the use of various fibers can often be felt through the physics of heat conduction.

• Fabric and Material Choices

Natural fibers, such as cotton and bamboo, breathe more easily than synthetics, as does a looser fabric weave. The lower the thread-count a material has, the better it breathes and allows for free air flow. Thread-counts below 400 are ideal for material breathability, with anything higher creating too tight a weave to allow proper flow of air through it while you sleep. Natural fibers are also moisture wicking, meaning they help move body moisture away from you, creating a cooling sensation during the process.

Other materials, such as gel, or other more innovative fibers, help draw heat from your body through the process of heat conduction- and keep it stored away from the surface of your skin. This also can provide a cooling sensation as you are in contact with a surface that is at ambient room temperature, or lower, which is almost always lower than your skin surface temperature.

This support of a cooler sleep environment is important to your sleep quality. As you sleep your body naturally drops in temperature to allow for a drop in blood pressure and increase in blood flow as your vessels constrict. This supports healing process throughout your entire body.

• Slumber Cloud Cumulus Cooling Claims

The cooling claims of this entire company is pretty hefty, seeing as that they actually created an entire line of sleep products to specifically address the needs of sleep temperature. Not only do they claim that their use of patented materials help draw heat from your body, but that it can help regulate your body temperature as you sleep.

What they are describing is heat conduction, which will pass from one surface to the next as changes in temperature occur. This is a pretty innovative way to apply physics to your sleep quality, and the creation of fabrics that can incorporate a usable amount of the materials that are able to complete this process is pretty ingenious.

Features and Benefits

The features and their benefits of this pillow are pretty interesting to explore. Scientific applications and quality materials choices abound to create a comfortable pillow choice for most people.

Size Availability

Meeting the needs of a variety of consumer preferences is always a challenge, and the Slumber Cloud company was not about to stop with a one size fits all pillow design. To start, they offer standard, queen, and king size pillows to provide choice to their prospective customers. These pillows measure 20 x 26, 20 x 30, and 20 x 36 respectively to ensure that they can fit your average pillowcase sizes without creating too much, or too little, available room.

I received the queen sized pillow to review which fit nicely inside a queen pillowcase. There was no restriction of filling distribution when weight was applied, not too much left over material to flop around.

Loft Choices and Fill

Running hand in hand with the size availability is your choice of poly fill amounts to adjust your pillow loft. Available in extra-soft, soft, medium, and firm support choices- each provides specific uses based on your sleep position preferences.

Extra soft and soft pillows are specifically for stomach sleepers, while medium pillows are geared more towards a back sleeper. Firm pillows are as such due to the higher amount of filling they have inside (42 ounces vs the 30 ounces in a medium queen pillow), in order to better support the neck in a proper cervical aligned position.

My medium queen, with 30 ounces of fill, felt pretty soft to me. While extremely supportive while sleeping on my back, I also found it to be a decent choice for side sleeping when bunched up and adjusted to my preferences. It also was fairly comfortable on my stomach, although the loft was a bit much around my face when laying right in the middle of the pillow, making me think the lower fill wouldn’t rise up as much in this position.

100% Cotton Sateen Fabric Cover

The 100% cotton sateen fabric cover is the obvious choice for air flow as, explained above, natural cotton fibers are better able to breathe, as well as draw moisture away from the skin. The sateen finishing ensures a smooth, soft surface that allows your pillowcase choice to move freely over it.

Each seam is double stitched to provide durability, and to keep from pulling during the redistribution of filling when you lay down upon it each night. The seam is also sewn flat, rather than in a gusseted fashion to allow for the flatter, supportive surface the medium fill was created for to provide back sleeping comfort.

– 300 Thread Count

To compliment the cotton, it is also woven into a 300 thread-count fabric which makes it ideal for free flow of circulating air, as well as the perfect, non-restrictive barrier to allow heat to draw away from your body.

Dual-Sided Outlast Lining Fabric

The cotton fabric cover is lined with the patented Outlast fabric which is made up of thousands of microscopic beads called Thermocules. Thermocules, simply explained, are series of gel technology that help absorb heat from your body.

Incorporating this technology into a material rather than a gel layer, or gel/poly fiber, you actually have these beads working with one another to draw heat away from your body and keep it stored well away from the surface of your skin. As your body cools, this heat will then transfer back to the surface of your skin to help regulate your skin surface temperature.

I will freely admit the pillow feels cool to the touch when you initially lay down upon it. I found it evened out in temperature over time, but it stayed very comfortable and avoided any type of heat sink often associated with polyester filling after it becomes compressed.

100% Hypoallergenic, Polyester Fill

As explained above, the loft of each size pillow is defined by the weight of the fill that is used within the varying pillow sizes. Polyester is a common fill choice as a synthetic due to its lower manufacturers cost, and how well it hold up overtime making it resistant to chemical breakdowns, water, and most importantly- mildew and molds. This is an excellent choice for products that are in any close proximity to your body as it is also naturally hypoallergenic.

I quickly noticed that the fill was very lightweight and lofty, which made for varying loft heights depending on the amount of pillow plumping I partook in. To me the loft was a bit misleading due to how it redistributes when weight is applied to flatten out. It was much easier to check the manufacturer’s webpage in order to see exactly how many ounces were in the pillow for quality purposes rather than depend on pillow height.

Machine Washable

This entire pillow is machine washable, and since you wouldn’t want to use any sort of pillow protector that may restrict air flow, this is a great feature as pillows usually collect dust and dirt from your body on a regular basis. Simply toss the pillow right in the wash and then tumble dry afterwards.

I went ahead and tried this out to see if I could plump it back up like before. If anything, I was able to get it even more lofty that I did right out of the package, confirming that no harm was done to the fill through the washing process. I have to admit washing a pillow always makes me a little nervous as I can’t quite believe it won’t bunch or get ruined in some sort of way. Luckily the claims that it was fully machine wash and dryable were true!

60 Day Warranty, 30 Day Trial Period

Many companies that manufacture pillows don’t offer any sort of returns on pillow barring manufacturer’s defects due to the personal nature of how you use a pillow. Slumber Cloud is so certain that you will find their pillows comfortable, that they offer not only a 30 day trial period, but also a 60 day warranty.

Many times customers find that a different pillow may work best for them, and this trial period allows for free exchanges as well.

Consumer Reviews

Consumer reviews are overwhelming positive concerning both the comfort and customer support the Slumber Cloud Company provides. Pillow support, softness, and cooling comfort are all mentioned in detail, as is how easy the exchanges or returns are through the service department. There have been some issues with exactly how soft the pillows are, with extra soft, soft, and even medium all falling more into a very soft experience than a firmer choice with each addition of fill weight.

I too also experienced this and thought my pillow was a soft, if not an extra soft choice, prior to double checking the order. Although this worked well for me, it may not for everyone, which is why the helpful customer support is such a benefit.

My Cooling Sleep Trial Experiences

As a shorter, average sized woman, I found the pillow to work best upon my side when I adjusted the loft to provide proper neck support. It definitely had just the right amount of filling for comfortable support when compressed in a back or stomach position as well, but as much as I wanted to use it as a stomach sleeping pillow (my natural tendencies) the loft raised much too high around my mouth and nose to make this a comfortable choice as you can see by the picture, the pillow is almost over the top of my head. A soft, or extra soft version would most likely be better for this.

I am not by any means a hot sleeper, even in warmer temperatures, so I made sure to adjust my ambient room temps to better gauge how well this pillow held up to its cooling claims in multiple situations. I also made a point to use differing fabric pillowcases to see how much of a difference was made with high and low material thread-counts.

• My Trial Room Temperatures Variables

My average room temperature is generally right around 72 degrees. As mentioned I am hardly a ‘warm’ sleeper by any means, but I do recognize the importance of a cooler sleep environment for a better rest and like to keep things a little cooler at night.

For this trial I used both the temperature I was used to, as well as with increased temps in order to better feel out how well this pillow would sleep under a variety of conditions. My warmer ambient temperature hovered in the lower 80’s, which was still a comfortable temperature for me at rest, but much warmer than what I am used to.

• My Trial Thread Count Variables

Thread-count choices play such a significant part in fabric airflow that I couldn’t help but wonder how many ‘heat’ complaints actually arise from a poor choice in material by the consumer. Since we are in 100% control of the pillowcases we choose to place upon opur pillow, I also slept with both high, and low thread-count cases.

The obvious choice was a 100% cotton casing with only a 250 thread-count, and my alternate case consisted of a cotton/poly, 750 thread-count microfiber.

Results

Although the pillow felt a bit like it had too much fabric and not enough filling, I ended up pretty happy with it once I discovered how easily it was to manipulate and shape exactly how I wanted it without sacrificing comfort.

Fairly low in nature, it also does provide decent firm support and I found it most comfortable when on my side and back. I wanted to love it as a stomach pillow, but as you can see, the medium pillow lofts up WAY too much and practically covers my head.

This probably isn’t the best side sleeping pillow for anyone larger than me as it does compress almost completely, leaving your neck unsupported. It also would be a perfect choice as a pillow that can be placed upon another pillow for added height and comfort.

- 72 Degrees/Cotton Casing

This was a great night’s sleep. The pillow felt like I was sleeping on the cool side of it all night and I definitely had no issues with sleep. It was also easy to shape and bunch to make as comfortable as I needed.

Result: The cotton casing and Slumber Cloud Cumulus Pillow was a win with this combination. The casing didn’t seem to infringe at all upon the comfort of the pillow.

- 72 Degrees/Microfiber Casing

This was also a great night’s sleep, although the casing didn’t feel quite as cool as it had the night before, I only noticed because I was specifically paying attention to temperature changes. The microfiber casing may have inhibited airflow somewhat, but it never changed the quality of my sleep.

Result: This was another win in my book. With a controlled ambient temperature this pillow seems to be comfortable no matter what type of casing you use with it.

- Hot Room/Cotton Casing

This was another comfy night. The pillowcase, although cool to the touch when I went to bed, didn’t seem to feel cool when I awoke the next morning, although it wasn’t uncomfortable. This makes sense since the conduction of the material is also pulling heat from the surrounding air, especially since it was a humid evening.

Result: The pillow’s claims to help regulate your temperature seems to be true. With a much warmer room I was never uncomfortable. The pillow was cool to the touch when I went to bed, and was more of a room temperature when I awoke- in my mind that means the cooling materials must be working.

- Hot Room/Microfiber Casing

Although I never felt a cooling sensation from the pillow with this combination, it also wasn’t at all uncomfortable. The pillow surface never felt warm and I slept comfortably.

Result: Either the microfiber case didn’t block the air flow as much as I thought, or the pillow shape simply didn’t create a heat sink at any point during the night.

My Opinion

I think this is an excellent choice for any temperature sleep as it provides a consistent cooling sensation through the night depending on your ambaint room climate. Even in a rom that may be considered uncomfortable by some standards, it still was a comfortable pillow to sleep with no matter what type of pillowcase was used.

I think it’s great that the pillow is available in so many sizes and fill choices. This makes it so much easier to meet the many differing preferences people have to meet both comfort, and proper cervical alignment needs.

Overall Rating: 4.6

We’ve rated this pillow as a top cooling choice due to its ability to properly regulate heat through the night in a variety of ambient temperature situations. The Outlast fabric that helps pull heat from your body and keeps it from retaining near your skin is effective and helps provide a consistently, comfortable night.

The Slumber Cloud Cumulus line is highly breathable and comfortable for more than one sleep style, but many of their choices are considered a bit soft for many people. Although my initial impression was of there being too much fabric to fill ratio, I quickly changed my mind about the design when I realized how adjustable and comfortable this made it.

The 30 day, hassle free exchange or return policy also makes it a good choice as you are provided the opportunity to give it a good trial run and decide if it is a best fit for your needs.

Conclusion

Your pillow choices are an important part of your sleep health, and taking the time to find the best fit for your personal preferences, as well as proper spinal alignment, is important. The Slumber Cloud Cumulus Pillow is a great choice for consideration and comes with a risk free trial period backed by an excellent customer service department.

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